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New Study Claims Data Harvesting Among Android Apps Is 'Out of Control' (techspot.com)
A new study from Oxford University revealed that almost 90 percent of free apps on the Google Play store share data with Alphabet. "The researchers, who analyzed 959,000 apps from the U.S. and UK Google Play stores, said data harvesting and sharing by mobile apps was now 'out of control,'" reports TechSpot. "'We find that most apps contain third party tracking, and the distribution of trackers is long-tailed with several highly dominant trackers accounting for a large portion of the coverage,' reads the report." From the report: It's revealed that most of the apps, 88.4 percent, could share data with companies owned by Google parent Alphabet. Next came a firm that's no stranger to data sharing controversies, Facebook (42.5 percent), followed by Twitter (33.8 percent), Verizon (26.27 percent), Microsoft (22.75 percent), and Amazon (17.91 percent). [I]nformation shared by these third-party apps can include age, gender, location, and information about a user's other installed apps. The data "enables construction of detailed profiles about individuals, which could include inferences about shopping habits, socio-economic class or likely political opinions."
Big firms then use the data for a variety of purposes, such as credit scoring and for targeting political messages, but its main use is often ad targeting. Not surprising, given that revenue from online advertising is now over $59 billion per year. According to the research, the average app transfers data to five tracker companies, which pass the data on to larger firms. The biggest culprits are news apps and those aimed at children, both of which tend to have the most third-party trackers associated with them.
Big firms then use the data for a variety of purposes, such as credit scoring and for targeting political messages, but its main use is often ad targeting. Not surprising, given that revenue from online advertising is now over $59 billion per year. According to the research, the average app transfers data to five tracker companies, which pass the data on to larger firms. The biggest culprits are news apps and those aimed at children, both of which tend to have the most third-party trackers associated with them.
Who would think that it would be "under control" to begin with? Android is primarily a data-gathering platform for Google. Always has been. If you're under the incorrect assumption that it's not, that's your fault.
I don't respond to AC's.
The whole issue with Android is the network has no firewall, by default everything gets access to the Internet.
In permissions it says you are giving the *app* permission, but the app isn't getting permission, the *company* making the app is. The first thing they do is to send all the data you just gave permission for to the parent company's servers.
And the built in apps get a free ride. On a lot of Android devices these days there is shitload of Google spyware, Microsoft spyware, Facebook spyware, and often some Chinese spyware, all pre-installed, all waiting for you to feed in your data to be sent off to parent HQ.
I don't put my address book into my Android phone, because I've seen had it under a debugger, and seen all the grabby API calls to immediately send that data off. App's I never used, slurp slurp slurp.
And you have nothing to hide right?
You're just a person doing their job, reporting on the latest Presidential lies, no reason why your family and friends and home address should be there for sale to every kook and political operator in the USA, right? This is the USA! WHO NEEDS PRIVACY? I'm sure if some friend of Jareds, wanted to dissect a journalist, the FBI would totally be called in. Nobody would claim "arm deal means the FBI cannot investigate.... meh it was only a few fake news journalists, noone from Fox and Friends".
Do you think apps on the Apple Store "could" also share data with Apple?
No, because Apple does not collect user data, either from built in or third party apps.
There is literally no way for a third party to forward data to Apple for collection.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Analytics and ads and services.
90% of Android apps in the play store contain the text "google.com"
That's all they checked. No data was checked, no source code looked at. They searched the APK files for host names.
What's slightly more concerning is nearly half of them potentially talk to Facebook. You already have a Google account and your phone is already sending data to the Play Store. You already know Google is is collecting analytics from your app on behalf on the developer.
Why the hell do all these apps need to talk to Facebook?
On this note, perhaps Slashdot should start sharing information with themselves about what they posted yesterday.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
From Apple's web site:
"We may collect information such as occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, referrer URL, location, and the time zone where an Apple product is used so that we can better understand customer behavior and improve our products, services, and ADVERTISING."
"We may collect and store details of how you use our services, including search queries. ... we may collect data about how you use your device and applications in order to help app developers improve their apps"
"Apple and its affiliates may share this personal information with each other and use it consistent with this Privacy Policy. They may also combine it with other information to provide and improve our products, services, content, and advertising."
https://www.apple.com/legal/pr...
It told me which app wanted to access the network, where they connected to, and the time.
Most shocking? My flashlight app, which I hadn't used in 6 months, was connecting every 30 seconds or so.
Needless to say that sucker got uninstalled ASAP, as did a handful of other apps.
Sad to say I had to uninstall the firewall, it was sucking up my battery like nobodies business. But I haven't installed any apps since then.
you get a bunch of random ad companies in your apps instead, all with varying privacy policies. great, that's so much better.
Wow I thought those goalposts seemed kind of heavy, but you managed to move them halfway across the country in no time at all!
Since the original topic just to remind you, is Apple getting third party app data... which again they do not, as you just admitted while taking about something else for some reason.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
from proprietary closed-source programs, in a proprietary environment on proprietary hardware? The fact that free software like the Linux kernel is in the mix is irrelevant -- all the other layers cannot be audited. Then because computers are scary, it is called "smart" and named a "telephone" so you think it's safe. Why any computer-savvy person would even want to be in the same room as one of these gadgets -- much less carry one, much less pay for the privilege -- beggars belief.
Apple is, of course, the greatest company in the world. So I'm sure they aren't lying when they say "we may collect data about how you use your device and applications".
Being amazing, I'm sure they aren't pulling your leg when they say in App store terms and conditions "You agree that Licensor may collect and use technical data and related informationâ"including but not limited to technical information about your device, system and application software, and peripherals".
None of the rest of the stuff is data tied to the user in any way.
Because any company that collects the following, and shares it with business partners, could tie a device to an individual user:
occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, referrer URL, location, and the time zone
You do understand how Facebook identifies you even before you sign up for an account, right?
"...data harvesting and sharing by mobile apps was now 'out of control'..."
No, apps are not "out of control". A society that gladly accepts this shit is the one out of control. Ignorance has practically begged for the destruction of privacy.
To the society that has welcomed an Orwellian future, don't bother asking what year it is anymore. It's 1984. It's always going to be 1984, because that's what you want.
I do not think that diverting attention to Apple is the answer.
Uncontrolled data collection about citizens seems to be a problem, it might be nothing, but it might as well erode slowly into a police state - face recognition, voice recognition, even recent study on mood recognition. The general public does not realize the power of big data, and how much they reveal about themselves by in their mind insignificant activities.
Convenience is a powerful tool, we carry with us willingly position trackers, microphones, cameras, sometimes bio-data trackers with not much control on whether they are off or on.
With evolving political landscape, where media earn salaries mostly from ads, who will watch the watchers?